Identification and display of configuration item information

ABSTRACT

Example embodiments for identifying and displaying configuration item information are presented herein. A system may involve a proxy server application disposed within a managed network that includes configuration items and a server disposed within a remote network management platform managing the managed network. The server may receive a request to view information representative of a particular configuration item from a client device. Based on the request, the server may obtain the information and transmit a representation of a graphical user interface to the client device. The representation may include a health graphic, a relationship graphic, a timeline graphic, and an activity stream, each of which represent pertinent information about the particular configuration item. The representation may also include a tabbed interface that facilitates navigation between attributes corresponding to the particular configuration item and attributes corresponding to other configuration items in the managed network.

BACKGROUND

An enterprise may use numerous computing devices to facilitate andmanage many interrelated operations. Some of the computing devices mayinclude client devices, server devices, routers, and virtual machines.These computing devices may have one or more software applicationsinstalled thereon. When managing these resources as well as othersutilized by the enterprise, the term “configuration item” (CI) is oftenused to describe any physical or virtual device, application orapplication executing thereon a device. A configuration item can alsoused to describe the relationships between devices, applications, andservices. As such, the configuration items discovered within theenterprise may be represented in a configuration management database(CMDB), which could be used by the enterprise or a management platformto manage the enterprise.

Each configuration item discovered within the enterprise can beassociated with a large amount of information, such as operationalparameters, relationships to other configuration items, installationinformation, etc. The large amount of information is represented in theform of attributes specific to the configuration item. When managing theenterprise, an administrator or another user might want to review theattributes of one or more configuration items, such as to identifychanges in attributes that may contribute to errors that occurred duringoperations. The numerous attributes associated with a configuration itemmight not be presented to the user in a clear and efficient manner,which may require the user to allocate extra time searching for specificinformation about the configuration item. Additionally, someconfiguration items may have so much associated information that it ischallenging to present all of the information even on large, moderndisplays.

SUMMARY

The embodiments herein introduce techniques for intelligentlyidentifying and displaying configuration item information. Particularly,example embodiments may involve obtaining information about aconfiguration item and identifying pertinent attributes for theconfiguration item. Pertinent attributes may correspond to attributesthat users often seek to review. As such, the pertinent attributes maybe presented in a concise, logical arrangement using a graphical userinterface on computing devices. Embodiments may involve using a tabbedinterface that enables a user to quickly navigate betweenrepresentations devoted to displaying attributes of differentconfiguration items. For instance, a first tab may convey informationregarding a first configuration item and a second tab may conveyinformation regarding a second configuration item. This way, the usermay quickly review and switch between information about multipleconfiguration items.

Further, each representation may include different graphical elementsthat enable quick review of attributes about the particularconfiguration item. For example, the representation for a particularconfiguration item may include a description of the particularconfiguration item, a health graphic configured to display health of theparticular configuration item using a colorized chart component, arelationship graphic configured to display immediate relationshipsbetween the particular configuration item and other configuration itemsin the enterprise, a timeline illustrating recent changes in attributevalues for the particular configuration item, a form field configured toorganize and clearly represent key attributes for the configurationitem, and an activity stream to further represent how attributes valueswere changed in a historical list format that also shows the users orsystems that established each attribute value change. Other graphicalelements may be included in other example representations.

The layout and compilation of information in example representationspresented herein may enable efficient review of pertinent informationabout configuration items within an enterprise. Unlike representationsoften used to allow a user to search for configuration item information,the example representations described herein intelligently organize andarrange the information for a configuration item using graphics witheasy to interpret visuals. Further, each representation may account forthe limited screen size available on computing devices. Particularly,the different graphics included within an example representation may berearranged as well as expanded or contracted to reveal or hide detailsrelated to attribute values. This way, a user may select a particulargraphic to view additional details or attributes for the particularconfiguration item. In addition, the tabbed interface may allow multiplerepresentations to be swiftly navigated between by a user allowing theuser to switch between and view information about multiple configurationitems.

Accordingly, a first example embodiment may involve a system thatincludes a proxy server application disposed within a managed network.The managed network may include a plurality of configuration items. Thesystem may also include one or more server devices disposed within aremote network management platform. The remote network managementplatform may manage the managed network and the one or more serverdevices may be configured to obtain information regarding the pluralityof configuration items by way of the proxy server application. The oneor more server devices may also be configured to receive, from a clientdevice, a request to view information representative of a particularconfiguration item. Based on the request, the one or more server devicesmay be configured to obtain information regarding the particularconfiguration item, and transmit a representation of a graphical userinterface to the client device. The representation of the graphical userinterface may include: (i) a health graphic configured to representhealth of the particular configuration item, (ii) a relationship graphicconfigured to represent first level relationships between the particularconfiguration item and one or more configuration items of the pluralityof configuration items in the managed network, (iii) a timeline graphicconfigured to represent attribute value changes for the particularconfiguration item during a predefined duration, (iv) an activity streamconfigured to represent a historical listing of attribute value changesfor the particular configuration item, and (v) a tabbed interface. Thetabbed interface may facilitate navigation between attributescorresponding to the particular configuration item and attributescorresponding to one or more other configuration items of the pluralityof configuration items in the managed network.

In a second example embodiment, an article of manufacture may include anon-transitory computer-readable medium, having stored thereon programinstructions that, upon execution by a computing system, cause thecomputing system to perform operations in accordance with the firstexample embodiment.

In a third example embodiment, a computing system may include at leastone processor, as well as memory and program instructions. The programinstructions may be stored in the memory, and upon execution by the atleast one processor, cause the computing system to perform operations inaccordance with the first example embodiment.

In a fourth example embodiment, a system may include various means forcarrying out each of the operations of the first example embodiment.

These as well as other embodiments, aspects, advantages, andalternatives will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artby reading the following detailed description, with reference whereappropriate to the accompanying drawings. Further, this summary andother descriptions and figures provided herein are intended toillustrate embodiments by way of example only and, as such, thatnumerous variations are possible. For instance, structural elements andprocess steps can be rearranged, combined, distributed, eliminated, orotherwise changed, while remaining within the scope of the embodimentsas claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic drawing of a computing device, inaccordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic drawing of a server device cluster, inaccordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 3 depicts a remote network management architecture, in accordancewith example embodiments.

FIG. 4 depicts a communication environment involving a remote networkmanagement architecture, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 5A depicts another communication environment involving a remotenetwork management architecture, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 5B is a flow chart, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 6 depicts a graphical user interface for displaying informationrelated to a configuration item, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 7A depicts an improved graphical user interface for intelligentlydisplaying information related to a configuration item, in accordancewith example embodiments.

FIG. 7B depicts the health graphic from the graphical user interfaceshown in FIG. 7A.

FIG. 7C depicts the relationship graphic from the graphical userinterface shown in FIG. 7A.

FIG. 7D depicts the timeline graphic from the graphical user interfaceshown in FIG. 7A.

FIG. 7E depicts the form fields and the activity stream shown in thegraphical user interface shown in FIG. 7A

FIG. 8 is a flow chart, in accordance with example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example methods, devices, and systems are described herein. It should beunderstood that the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein tomean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodimentor feature described herein as being an “example” or “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otherembodiments or features unless stated as such. Thus, other embodimentscan be utilized and other changes can be made without departing from thescope of the subject matter presented herein.

Accordingly, the example embodiments described herein are not meant tobe limiting. It will be readily understood that the aspects of thepresent disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated inthe figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, anddesigned in a wide variety of different configurations. For example, theseparation of features into “client” and “server” components may occurin a number of ways.

Further, unless context suggests otherwise, the features illustrated ineach of the figures may be used in combination with one another. Thus,the figures should be generally viewed as component aspects of one ormore overall embodiments, with the understanding that not allillustrated features are necessary for each embodiment.

Additionally, any enumeration of elements, blocks, or steps in thisspecification or the claims is for purposes of clarity. Thus, suchenumeration should not be interpreted to require or imply that theseelements, blocks, or steps adhere to a particular arrangement or arecarried out in a particular order.

I. INTRODUCTION

A large enterprise is a complex entity with many interrelatedoperations. Some of these are found across the enterprise, such as humanresources (HR), supply chain, information technology (IT), and finance.However, each enterprise also has its own unique operations that provideessential capabilities and/or create competitive advantages.

To support widely-implemented operations, enterprises typically useoff-the-shelf software applications, such as customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) and human capital management (HCM) packages. However,they may also need custom software applications to meet their own uniquerequirements. A large enterprise often has dozens or hundreds of thesecustom software applications. Nonetheless, the advantages provided bythe embodiments herein are not limited to large enterprises and may beapplicable to an enterprise, or any other type of organization, of anysize.

Many such software applications are developed by individual departmentswithin the enterprise. These range from simple spreadsheets tocustom-built software tools and databases. But the proliferation ofsiloed custom software applications has numerous disadvantages. Itnegatively impacts an enterprise's ability to run and grow itsoperations, innovate, and meet regulatory requirements. The enterprisemay find it difficult to integrate, streamline and enhance itsoperations due to lack of a single system that unifies its subsystemsand data.

To efficiently create custom applications, enterprises would benefitfrom a remotely-hosted application platform that eliminates unnecessarydevelopment complexity. The goal of such a platform would be to reducetime-consuming, repetitive application development tasks so thatsoftware engineers and individuals in other roles can focus ondeveloping unique, high-value features.

In order to achieve this goal, the concept of Application Platform as aService (aPaaS) is introduced, to intelligently automate workflowsthroughout the enterprise. An aPaaS system is hosted remotely from theenterprise, but may access data, applications, and services within theenterprise by way of secure connections. Such an aPaaS system may have anumber of advantageous capabilities and characteristics. Theseadvantages and characteristics may be able to improve the enterprise'soperations and workflow for IT, HR, CRM, customer service, applicationdevelopment, and security.

The aPaaS system may support development and execution ofmodel-view-controller (MVC) applications. MVC applications divide theirfunctionality into three interconnected parts (model, view, andcontroller) in order to isolate representations of information from themanner in which the information is presented to the user, therebyallowing for efficient code reuse and parallel development. Theseapplications may be web-based, and offer create, read, update, delete(CRUD) capabilities. This allows new applications to be built on acommon application infrastructure.

The aPaaS system may support standardized application components, suchas a standardized set of widgets for graphical user interface (GUI)development. In this way, applications built using the aPaaS system havea common look and feel. Other software components and modules may bestandardized as well. In some cases, this look and feel can be brandedor skinned with an enterprise's custom logos and/or color schemes.

The aPaaS system may support the ability to configure the behavior ofapplications using metadata. This allows application behaviors to berapidly adapted to meet specific needs. Such an approach reducesdevelopment time and increases flexibility. Further, the aPaaS systemmay support GUI tools that facilitate metadata creation and management,thus reducing errors in the metadata.

The aPaaS system may support clearly-defined interfaces betweenapplications, so that software developers can avoid unwantedinter-application dependencies. Thus, the aPaaS system may implement aservice layer in which persistent state information and other data isstored.

The aPaaS system may support a rich set of integration features so thatthe applications thereon can interact with legacy applications andthird-party applications. For instance, the aPaaS system may support acustom employee-onboarding system that integrates with legacy HR, IT,and accounting systems.

The aPaaS system may support enterprise-grade security. Furthermore,since the aPaaS system may be remotely hosted, it should also utilizesecurity procedures when it interacts with systems in the enterprise orthird-party networks and services hosted outside of the enterprise. Forexample, the aPaaS system may be configured to share data amongst theenterprise and other parties to detect and identify common securitythreats.

Other features, functionality, and advantages of an aPaaS system mayexist. This description is for purpose of example and is not intended tobe limiting.

As an example of the aPaaS development process, a software developer maybe tasked to create a new application using the aPaaS system. First, thedeveloper may define the data model, which specifies the types of datathat the application uses and the relationships therebetween. Then, viaa GUI of the aPaaS system, the developer enters (e.g., uploads) the datamodel. The aPaaS system automatically creates all of the correspondingdatabase tables, fields, and relationships, which can then be accessedvia an object-oriented services layer.

In addition, the aPaaS system can also build a fully-functional MVCapplication with client-side interfaces and server-side CRUD logic. Thisgenerated application may serve as the basis of further development forthe user. Advantageously, the developer does not have to spend a largeamount of time on basic application functionality. Further, since theapplication may be web-based, it can be accessed from anyInternet-enabled client device. Alternatively or additionally, a localcopy of the application may be able to be accessed, for instance, whenInternet service is not available.

The aPaaS system may also support a rich set of pre-definedfunctionality that can be added to applications. These features includesupport for searching, email, templating, workflow design, reporting,analytics, social media, scripting, mobile-friendly output, andcustomized GUIs.

The following embodiments describe architectural and functional aspectsof example aPaaS systems, as well as the features and advantagesthereof.

II. EXAMPLE COMPUTING DEVICES AND CLOUD-BASED COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram exemplifying a computing device100, illustrating some of the components that could be included in acomputing device arranged to operate in accordance with the embodimentsherein. Computing device 100 could be a client device (e.g., a deviceactively operated by a user), a server device (e.g., a device thatprovides computational services to client devices), or some other typeof computational platform. Some server devices may operate as clientdevices from time to time in order to perform particular operations, andsome client devices may incorporate server features.

In this example, computing device 100 includes processor 102, memory104, network interface 106, and an input/output unit 108, all of whichmay be coupled by a system bus 110 or a similar mechanism. In someembodiments, computing device 100 may include other components and/orperipheral devices (e.g., detachable storage, printers, and so on).

Processor 102 may be one or more of any type of computer processingelement, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a co-processor (e.g.,a mathematics, graphics, or encryption co-processor), a digital signalprocessor (DSP), a network processor, and/or a form of integratedcircuit or controller that performs processor operations. In some cases,processor 102 may be one or more single-core processors. In other cases,processor 102 may be one or more multi-core processors with multipleindependent processing units. Processor 102 may also include registermemory for temporarily storing instructions being executed and relateddata, as well as cache memory for temporarily storing recently-usedinstructions and data.

Memory 104 may be any form of computer-usable memory, including but notlimited to random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), andnon-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, hard disk drives, solid statedrives, compact discs (CDs), digital video discs (DVDs), and/or tapestorage). Thus, memory 104 represents both main memory units, as well aslong-term storage. Other types of memory may include biological memory.

Memory 104 may store program instructions and/or data on which programinstructions may operate. By way of example, memory 104 may store theseprogram instructions on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium, suchthat the instructions are executable by processor 102 to carry out anyof the methods, processes, or operations disclosed in this specificationor the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, memory 104 may include firmware 104A, kernel 104B,and/or applications 104C. Firmware 104A may be program code used to bootor otherwise initiate some or all of computing device 100. Kernel 104Bmay be an operating system, including modules for memory management,scheduling and management of processes, input/output, and communication.Kernel 104B may also include device drivers that allow the operatingsystem to communicate with the hardware modules (e.g., memory units,networking interfaces, ports, and busses), of computing device 100.Applications 104C may be one or more user-space software programs, suchas web browsers or email clients, as well as any software libraries usedby these programs. Memory 104 may also store data used by these andother programs and applications.

Network interface 106 may take the form of one or more wirelineinterfaces, such as Ethernet (e.g., Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, andso on). Network interface 106 may also support communication over one ormore non-Ethernet media, such as coaxial cables or power lines, or overwide-area media, such as Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) ordigital subscriber line (DSL) technologies. Network interface 106 mayadditionally take the form of one or more wireless interfaces, such asIEEE 802.11 (Wifi), BLUETOOTH®, global positioning system (GPS), or awide-area wireless interface. However, other forms of physical layerinterfaces and other types of standard or proprietary communicationprotocols may be used over network interface 106. Furthermore, networkinterface 106 may comprise multiple physical interfaces. For instance,some embodiments of computing device 100 may include Ethernet,BLUETOOTH®, and Wifi interfaces.

Input/output unit 108 may facilitate user and peripheral deviceinteraction with computing device 100. Input/output unit 108 may includeone or more types of input devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, and so on. Similarly, input/output unit 108 may include one ormore types of output devices, such as a screen, monitor, printer, and/orone or more light emitting diodes (LEDs). Additionally or alternatively,computing device 100 may communicate with other devices using auniversal serial bus (USB) or high-definition multimedia interface(HDMI) port interface, for example.

In some embodiments, one or more instances of computing device 100 maybe deployed to support an aPaaS architecture. The exact physicallocation, connectivity, and configuration of these computing devices maybe unknown and/or unimportant to client devices. Accordingly, thecomputing devices may be referred to as “cloud-based” devices that maybe housed at various remote data center locations.

FIG. 2 depicts a cloud-based server cluster 200 in accordance withexample embodiments. In FIG. 2, operations of a computing device (e.g.,computing device 100) may be distributed between server devices 202,data storage 204, and routers 206, all of which may be connected bylocal cluster network 208. The number of server devices 202, datastorages 204, and routers 206 in server cluster 200 may depend on thecomputing task(s) and/or applications assigned to server cluster 200.

For example, server devices 202 can be configured to perform variouscomputing tasks of computing device 100. Thus, computing tasks can bedistributed among one or more of server devices 202. To the extent thatthese computing tasks can be performed in parallel, such a distributionof tasks may reduce the total time to complete these tasks and return aresult. For purpose of simplicity, both server cluster 200 andindividual server devices 202 may be referred to as a “server device.”This nomenclature should be understood to imply that one or moredistinct server devices, data storage devices, and cluster routers maybe involved in server device operations.

Data storage 204 may be data storage arrays that include drive arraycontrollers configured to manage read and write access to groups of harddisk drives and/or solid state drives. The drive array controllers,alone or in conjunction with server devices 202, may also be configuredto manage backup or redundant copies of the data stored in data storage204 to protect against drive failures or other types of failures thatprevent one or more of server devices 202 from accessing units of datastorage 204. Other types of memory aside from drives may be used.

Routers 206 may include networking equipment configured to provideinternal and external communications for server cluster 200. Forexample, routers 206 may include one or more packet-switching and/orrouting devices (including switches and/or gateways) configured toprovide (i) network communications between server devices 202 and datastorage 204 via local cluster network 208, and/or (ii) networkcommunications between the server cluster 200 and other devices viacommunication link 210 to network 212.

Additionally, the configuration of routers 206 can be based at least inpart on the data communication requirements of server devices 202 anddata storage 204, the latency and throughput of the local clusternetwork 208, the latency, throughput, and cost of communication link210, and/or other factors that may contribute to the cost, speed,fault-tolerance, resiliency, efficiency and/or other design goals of thesystem architecture.

As a possible example, data storage 204 may include any form ofdatabase, such as a structured query language (SQL) database. Varioustypes of data structures may store the information in such a database,including but not limited to tables, arrays, lists, trees, and tuples.Furthermore, any databases in data storage 204 may be monolithic ordistributed across multiple physical devices.

Server devices 202 may be configured to transmit data to and receivedata from data storage 204. This transmission and retrieval may take theform of SQL queries or other types of database queries, and the outputof such queries, respectively. Additional text, images, video, and/oraudio may be included as well. Furthermore, server devices 202 mayorganize the received data into web page representations. Such arepresentation may take the form of a markup language, such as thehypertext markup language (HTML), the extensible markup language (XML),or some other standardized or proprietary format. Moreover, serverdevices 202 may have the capability of executing various types ofcomputerized scripting languages, such as but not limited to Perl,Python, PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), Active Server Pages (ASP),JavaScript, and so on. Computer program code written in these languagesmay facilitate the providing of web pages to client devices, as well asclient device interaction with the web pages.

III. EXAMPLE REMOTE NETWORK MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE

FIG. 3 depicts a remote network management architecture, in accordancewith example embodiments. This architecture includes three maincomponents, managed network 300, remote network management platform 320,and third-party networks 340, all connected by way of Internet 350.

Managed network 300 may be, for example, an enterprise network used byan entity for computing and communications tasks, as well as storage ofdata. Thus, managed network 300 may include client devices 302, serverdevices 304, routers 306, virtual machines 308, firewall 310, and/orproxy servers 312. Client devices 302 may be embodied by computingdevice 100, server devices 304 may be embodied by computing device 100or server cluster 200, and routers 306 may be any type of router,switch, or gateway.

Virtual machines 308 may be embodied by one or more of computing device100 or server cluster 200. In general, a virtual machine is an emulationof a computing system, and mimics the functionality (e.g., processor,memory, and communication resources) of a physical computer. Onephysical computing system, such as server cluster 200, may support up tothousands of individual virtual machines. In some embodiments, virtualmachines 308 may be managed by a centralized server device orapplication that facilitates allocation of physical computing resourcesto individual virtual machines, as well as performance and errorreporting. Enterprises often employ virtual machines in order toallocate computing resources in an efficient, as needed fashion.Providers of virtualized computing systems include VMWARE® andMICROSOFT®.

Firewall 310 may be one or more specialized routers or server devicesthat protect managed network 300 from unauthorized attempts to accessthe devices, applications, and services therein, while allowingauthorized communication that is initiated from managed network 300.Firewall 310 may also provide intrusion detection, web filtering, virusscanning, application-layer gateways, and other applications orservices. In some embodiments not shown in FIG. 3, managed network 300may include one or more virtual private network (VPN) gateways withwhich it communicates with remote network management platform 320 (seebelow).

Managed network 300 may also include one or more proxy servers 312. Anembodiment of proxy servers 312 may be a server device that facilitatescommunication and movement of data between managed network 300, remotenetwork management platform 320, and third-party networks 340. Inparticular, proxy servers 312 may be able to establish and maintainsecure communication sessions with one or more computational instancesof remote network management platform 320. By way of such a session,remote network management platform 320 may be able to discover andmanage aspects of the architecture and configuration of managed network300 and its components. Possibly with the assistance of proxy servers312, remote network management platform 320 may also be able to discoverand manage aspects of third-party networks 340 that are used by managednetwork 300.

Firewalls, such as firewall 310, typically deny all communicationsessions that are incoming by way of Internet 350, unless such a sessionwas ultimately initiated from behind the firewall (i.e., from a deviceon managed network 300) or the firewall has been explicitly configuredto support the session. By placing proxy servers 312 behind firewall 310(e.g., within managed network 300 and protected by firewall 310), proxyservers 312 may be able to initiate these communication sessions throughfirewall 310. Thus, firewall 310 might not have to be specificallyconfigured to support incoming sessions from remote network managementplatform 320, thereby avoiding potential security risks to managednetwork 300.

In some cases, managed network 300 may consist of a few devices and asmall number of networks. In other deployments, managed network 300 mayspan multiple physical locations and include hundreds of networks andhundreds of thousands of devices. Thus, the architecture depicted inFIG. 3 is capable of scaling up or down by orders of magnitude.

Furthermore, depending on the size, architecture, and connectivity ofmanaged network 300, a varying number of proxy servers 312 may bedeployed therein. For example, each one of proxy servers 312 may beresponsible for communicating with remote network management platform320 regarding a portion of managed network 300. Alternatively oradditionally, sets of two or more proxy servers may be assigned to sucha portion of managed network 300 for purposes of load balancing,redundancy, and/or high availability.

Remote network management platform 320 is a hosted environment thatprovides aPaaS services to users, particularly to the operators ofmanaged network 300. These services may take the form of web-basedportals, for instance. Thus, a user can securely access remote networkmanagement platform 320 from, for instance, client devices 302, orpotentially from a client device outside of managed network 300. By wayof the web-based portals, users may design, test, and deployapplications, generate reports, view analytics, and perform other tasks.

As shown in FIG. 3, remote network management platform 320 includes fourcomputational instances 322, 324, 326, and 328. Each of these instancesmay represent a set of web portals, services, and applications (e.g., awholly-functioning aPaaS system) available to a particular customer. Insome cases, a single customer may use multiple computational instances.For example, managed network 300 may be an enterprise customer of remotenetwork management platform 320, and may use computational instances322, 324, and 326. The reason for providing multiple instances to onecustomer is that the customer may wish to independently develop, test,and deploy its applications and services. Thus, computational instance322 may be dedicated to application development related to managednetwork 300, computational instance 324 may be dedicated to testingthese applications, and computational instance 326 may be dedicated tothe live operation of tested applications and services. A computationalinstance may also be referred to as a hosted instance, a remoteinstance, a customer instance, or by some other designation. Anyapplication deployed onto a computational instance may be a scopedapplication, in that its access to databases within the computationalinstance can be restricted to certain elements therein (e.g., one ormore particular database tables or particular rows with one or moredatabase tables).

The multi-instance architecture of remote network management platform320 is in contrast to conventional multi-tenant architectures, overwhich multi-instance architectures exhibit several advantages. Inmulti-tenant architectures, data from different customers (e.g.,enterprises) are comingled in a single database. While these customers'data are separate from one another, the separation is enforced by thesoftware that operates the single database. As a consequence, a securitybreach in this system may impact all customers' data, creatingadditional risk, especially for entities subject to governmental,healthcare, and/or financial regulation. Furthermore, any databaseoperations that impact one customer will likely impact all customerssharing that database. Thus, if there is an outage due to hardware orsoftware errors, this outage affects all such customers. Likewise, ifthe database is to be upgraded to meet the needs of one customer, itwill be unavailable to all customers during the upgrade process. Often,such maintenance windows will be long, due to the size of the shareddatabase.

In contrast, the multi-instance architecture provides each customer withits own database in a dedicated computing instance. This preventscomingling of customer data, and allows each instance to beindependently managed. For example, when one customer's instanceexperiences an outage due to errors or an upgrade, other computationalinstances are not impacted. Maintenance down time is limited because thedatabase only contains one customer's data. Further, the simpler designof the multi-instance architecture allows redundant copies of eachcustomer database and instance to be deployed in a geographicallydiverse fashion. This facilitates high availability, where the liveversion of the customer's instance can be moved when faults are detectedor maintenance is being performed.

In some embodiments, remote network management platform 320 may includeone or more central instances, controlled by the entity that operatesthis platform. Like a computational instance, a central instance mayinclude some number of physical or virtual servers and database devices.Such a central instance may serve as a repository for data that can beshared amongst at least some of the computational instances. Forinstance, definitions of common security threats that could occur on thecomputational instances, software packages that are commonly discoveredon the computational instances, and/or an application store forapplications that can be deployed to the computational instances mayreside in a central instance. Computational instances may communicatewith central instances by way of well-defined interfaces in order toobtain this data.

In order to support multiple computational instances in an efficientfashion, remote network management platform 320 may implement aplurality of these instances on a single hardware platform. For example,when the aPaaS system is implemented on a server cluster such as servercluster 200, it may operate a virtual machine that dedicates varyingamounts of computational, storage, and communication resources toinstances. But full virtualization of server cluster 200 might not benecessary, and other mechanisms may be used to separate instances. Insome examples, each instance may have a dedicated account and one ormore dedicated databases on server cluster 200. Alternatively,computational instance 322 may span multiple physical devices.

In some cases, a single server cluster of remote network managementplatform 320 may support multiple independent enterprises. Furthermore,as described below, remote network management platform 320 may includemultiple server clusters deployed in geographically diverse data centersin order to facilitate load balancing, redundancy, and/or highavailability.

Third-party networks 340 may be remote server devices (e.g., a pluralityof server clusters such as server cluster 200) that can be used foroutsourced computational, data storage, communication, and servicehosting operations. These servers may be virtualized (i.e., the serversmay be virtual machines). Examples of third-party networks 340 mayinclude AMAZON WEB SERVICES® and MICROSOFT® Azure. Like remote networkmanagement platform 320, multiple server clusters supporting third-partynetworks 340 may be deployed at geographically diverse locations forpurposes of load balancing, redundancy, and/or high availability.

Managed network 300 may use one or more of third-party networks 340 todeploy applications and services to its clients and customers. Forinstance, if managed network 300 provides online music streamingservices, third-party networks 340 may store the music files and provideweb interface and streaming capabilities. In this way, the enterprise ofmanaged network 300 does not have to build and maintain its own serversfor these operations.

Remote network management platform 320 may include modules thatintegrate with third-party networks 340 to expose virtual machines andmanaged services therein to managed network 300. The modules may allowusers to request virtual resources and provide flexible reporting forthird-party networks 340. In order to establish this functionality, auser from managed network 300 might first establish an account withthird-party networks 340, and request a set of associated resources.Then, the user may enter the account information into the appropriatemodules of remote network management platform 320. These modules maythen automatically discover the manageable resources in the account, andalso provide reports related to usage, performance, and billing.

Internet 350 may represent a portion of the global Internet. However,Internet 350 may alternatively represent a different type of network,such as a private wide-area or local-area packet-switched network.

FIG. 4 further illustrates the communication environment between managednetwork 300 and computational instance 322, and introduces additionalfeatures and alternative embodiments. In FIG. 4, computational instance322 is replicated across data centers 400A and 400B. These data centersmay be geographically distant from one another, perhaps in differentcities or different countries. Each data center includes supportequipment that facilitates communication with managed network 300, aswell as remote users.

In data center 400A, network traffic to and from external devices flowseither through VPN gateway 402A or firewall 404A. VPN gateway 402A maybe peered with VPN gateway 412 of managed network 300 by way of asecurity protocol such as Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC) orTransport Layer Security (TLS). Firewall 404A may be configured to allowaccess from authorized users, such as user 414 and remote user 416, andto deny access to unauthorized users. By way of firewall 404A, theseusers may access computational instance 322, and possibly othercomputational instances. Load balancer 406A may be used to distributetraffic amongst one or more physical or virtual server devices that hostcomputational instance 322. Load balancer 406A may simplify user accessby hiding the internal configuration of data center 400A, (e.g.,computational instance 322) from client devices. For instance, ifcomputational instance 322 includes multiple physical or virtualcomputing devices that share access to multiple databases, load balancer406A may distribute network traffic and processing tasks across thesecomputing devices and databases so that no one computing device ordatabase is significantly busier than the others. In some embodiments,computational instance 322 may include VPN gateway 402A, firewall 404A,and load balancer 406A.

Data center 400B may include its own versions of the components in datacenter 400A. Thus, VPN gateway 402B, firewall 404B, and load balancer406B may perform the same or similar operations as VPN gateway 402A,firewall 404A, and load balancer 406A, respectively. Further, by way ofreal-time or near-real-time database replication and/or otheroperations, computational instance 322 may exist simultaneously in datacenters 400A and 400B.

Data centers 400A and 400B as shown in FIG. 4 may facilitate redundancyand high availability. In the configuration of FIG. 4, data center 400Ais active and data center 400B is passive. Thus, data center 400A isserving all traffic to and from managed network 300, while the versionof computational instance 322 in data center 400B is being updated innear-real-time. Other configurations, such as one in which both datacenters are active, may be supported.

Should data center 400A fail in some fashion or otherwise becomeunavailable to users, data center 400B can take over as the active datacenter. For example, domain name system (DNS) servers that associate adomain name of computational instance 322 with one or more InternetProtocol (IP) addresses of data center 400A may re-associate the domainname with one or more IP addresses of data center 400B. After thisre-association completes (which may take less than one second or severalseconds), users may access computational instance 322 by way of datacenter 400B.

FIG. 4 also illustrates a possible configuration of managed network 300.As noted above, proxy servers 312 and user 414 may access computationalinstance 322 through firewall 310. Proxy servers 312 may also accessconfiguration items 410. In FIG. 4, configuration items 410 may refer toany or all of client devices 302, server devices 304, routers 306, andvirtual machines 308, any applications or services executing thereon, aswell as relationships between devices, applications, and services. Thus,the term “configuration items” may be shorthand for any physical orvirtual device, or any application or service remotely discoverable ormanaged by computational instance 322, or relationships betweendiscovered devices, applications, and services. Configuration items maybe represented in a configuration management database (CMDB) ofcomputational instance 322.

As noted above, VPN gateway 412 may provide a dedicated VPN to VPNgateway 402A. Such a VPN may be helpful when there is a significantamount of traffic between managed network 300 and computational instance322, or security policies otherwise suggest or require use of a VPNbetween these sites. In some embodiments, any device in managed network300 and/or computational instance 322 that directly communicates via theVPN is assigned a public IP address. Other devices in managed network300 and/or computational instance 322 may be assigned private IPaddresses (e.g., IP addresses selected from the 10.0.0.0-10.255.255.255or 192.168.0.0-192.168.255.255 ranges, represented in shorthand assubnets 10.0.0.0/8 and 192.168.0.0/16, respectively).

IV. EXAMPLE DEVICE, APPLICATION, AND SERVICE DISCOVERY

In order for remote network management platform 320 to administer thedevices, applications, and services of managed network 300, remotenetwork management platform 320 may first determine what devices arepresent in managed network 300, the configurations and operationalstatuses of these devices, and the applications and services provided bythe devices, and well as the relationships between discovered devices,applications, and services. As noted above, each device, application,service, and relationship may be referred to as a configuration item.The process of defining configuration items within managed network 300is referred to as discovery, and may be facilitated at least in part byproxy servers 312.

For purpose of the embodiments herein, an “application” may refer to oneor more processes, threads, programs, client modules, server modules, orany other software that executes on a device or group of devices. A“service” may refer to a high-level capability provided by multipleapplications executing on one or more devices working in conjunctionwith one another. For example, a high-level web service may involvemultiple web application server threads executing on one device andaccessing information from a database application that executes onanother device.

FIG. 5A provides a logical depiction of how configuration items can bediscovered, as well as how information related to discoveredconfiguration items can be stored. For sake of simplicity, remotenetwork management platform 320, third-party networks 340, and Internet350 are not shown.

In FIG. 5A, CMDB 500 and task list 502 are stored within computationalinstance 322. Computational instance 322 may transmit discovery commandsto proxy servers 312. In response, proxy servers 312 may transmit probesto various devices, applications, and services in managed network 300.These devices, applications, and services may transmit responses toproxy servers 312, and proxy servers 312 may then provide informationregarding discovered configuration items to CMDB 500 for storagetherein. Configuration items stored in CMDB 500 represent theenvironment of managed network 300.

Task list 502 represents a list of activities that proxy servers 312 areto perform on behalf of computational instance 322. As discovery takesplace, task list 502 is populated. Proxy servers 312 repeatedly querytask list 502, obtain the next task therein, and perform this task untiltask list 502 is empty or another stopping condition has been reached.

To facilitate discovery, proxy servers 312 may be configured withinformation regarding one or more subnets in managed network 300 thatare reachable by way of proxy servers 312. For instance, proxy servers312 may be given the IP address range 192.168.0/24 as a subnet. Then,computational instance 322 may store this information in CMDB 500 andplace tasks in task list 502 for discovery of devices at each of theseaddresses.

FIG. 5A also depicts devices, applications, and services in managednetwork 300 as configuration items 504, 506, 508, 510, and 512. As notedabove, these configuration items represent a set of physical and/orvirtual devices (e.g., client devices, server devices, routers, orvirtual machines), applications executing thereon (e.g., web servers,email servers, databases, or storage arrays), relationshipstherebetween, as well as services that involve multiple individualconfiguration items.

Placing the tasks in task list 502 may trigger or otherwise cause proxyservers 312 to begin discovery. Alternatively or additionally, discoverymay be manually triggered or automatically triggered based on triggeringevents (e.g., discovery may automatically begin once per day at aparticular time).

In general, discovery may proceed in four logical phases: scanning,classification, identification, and exploration. Each phase of discoveryinvolves various types of probe messages being transmitted by proxyservers 312 to one or more devices in managed network 300. The responsesto these probes may be received and processed by proxy servers 312, andrepresentations thereof may be transmitted to CMDB 500. Thus, each phasecan result in more configuration items being discovered and stored inCMDB 500.

In the scanning phase, proxy servers 312 may probe each IP address inthe specified range of IP addresses for open Transmission ControlProtocol (TCP) and/or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ports to determinethe general type of device. The presence of such open ports at an IPaddress may indicate that a particular application is operating on thedevice that is assigned the IP address, which in turn may identify theoperating system used by the device. For example, if TCP port 135 isopen, then the device is likely executing a WINDOWS® operating system.Similarly, if TCP port 22 is open, then the device is likely executing aUNIX® operating system, such as LINUX®. If UDP port 161 is open, thenthe device may be able to be further identified through the SimpleNetwork Management Protocol (SNMP). Other possibilities exist. Once thepresence of a device at a particular IP address and its open ports havebeen discovered, these configuration items are saved in CMDB 500.

In the classification phase, proxy servers 312 may further probe eachdiscovered device to determine the version of its operating system. Theprobes used for a particular device are based on information gatheredabout the devices during the scanning phase. For example, if a device isfound with TCP port 22 open, a set of UNIX®-specific probes may be used.Likewise, if a device is found with TCP port 135 open, a set ofWINDOWS®-specific probes may be used. For either case, an appropriateset of tasks may be placed in task list 502 for proxy servers 312 tocarry out. These tasks may result in proxy servers 312 logging on, orotherwise accessing information from the particular device. Forinstance, if TCP port 22 is open, proxy servers 312 may be instructed toinitiate a Secure Shell (SSH) connection to the particular device andobtain information about the operating system thereon from particularlocations in the file system. Based on this information, the operatingsystem may be determined. As an example, a UNIX® device with TCP port 22open may be classified as AIX®, HPUX, LINUX®, MACOS®, or SOLARIS®. Thisclassification information may be stored as one or more configurationitems in CMDB 500.

In the identification phase, proxy servers 312 may determine specificdetails about a classified device. The probes used during this phase maybe based on information gathered about the particular devices during theclassification phase. For example, if a device was classified as LINUX®,a set of LINUX®-specific probes may be used. Likewise if a device wasclassified as WINDOWS® 2012, as a set of WINDOWS®-2012-specific probesmay be used. As was the case for the classification phase, anappropriate set of tasks may be placed in task list 502 for proxyservers 312 to carry out. These tasks may result in proxy servers 312reading information from the particular device, such as basicinput/output system (BIOS) information, serial numbers, networkinterface information, media access control address(es) assigned tothese network interface(s), IP address(es) used by the particular deviceand so on. This identification information may be stored as one or moreconfiguration items in CMDB 500.

In the exploration phase, proxy servers 312 may determine furtherdetails about the operational state of a classified device. The probesused during this phase may be based on information gathered about theparticular devices during the classification phase and/or theidentification phase. Again, an appropriate set of tasks may be placedin task list 502 for proxy servers 312 to carry out. These tasks mayresult in proxy servers 312 reading additional information from theparticular device, such as processor information, memory information,lists of running processes (applications), and so on. Once more, thediscovered information may be stored as one or more configuration itemsin CMDB 500.

Running discovery on a network device, such as a router, may utilizeSNMP. Instead of or in addition to determining a list of runningprocesses or other application-related information, discovery maydetermine additional subnets known to the router and the operationalstate of the router's network interfaces (e.g., active, inactive, queuelength, number of packets dropped, etc.). The IP addresses of theadditional subnets may be candidates for further discovery procedures.Thus, discovery may progress iteratively or recursively.

Once discovery completes, a snapshot representation of each discovereddevice, application, and service is available in CMDB 500. For example,after discovery, operating system version, hardware configuration andnetwork configuration details for client devices, server devices, androuters in managed network 300, as well as applications executingthereon, may be stored. This collected information may be presented to auser in various ways to allow the user to view the hardware compositionand operational status of devices, as well as the characteristics ofservices that span multiple devices and applications.

Furthermore, CMDB 500 may include entries regarding dependencies andrelationships between configuration items. More specifically, anapplication that is executing on a particular server device, as well asthe services that rely on this application, may be represented as suchin CMDB 500. For instance, suppose that a database application isexecuting on a server device, and that this database application is usedby a new employee onboarding service as well as a payroll service. Thus,if the server device is taken out of operation for maintenance, it isclear that the employee onboarding service and payroll service will beimpacted. Likewise, the dependencies and relationships betweenconfiguration items may be able to represent the services impacted whena particular router fails.

In general, dependencies and relationships between configuration itemsmay be displayed on a web-based interface and represented in ahierarchical fashion. Thus, adding, changing, or removing suchdependencies and relationships may be accomplished by way of thisinterface.

Furthermore, users from managed network 300 may develop workflows thatallow certain coordinated activities to take place across multiplediscovered devices. For instance, an IT workflow might allow the user tochange the common administrator password to all discovered LINUX®devices in single operation.

In order for discovery to take place in the manner described above,proxy servers 312, CMDB 500, and/or one or more credential stores may beconfigured with credentials for one or more of the devices to bediscovered. Credentials may include any type of information needed inorder to access the devices. These may include userid/password pairs,certificates, and so on. In some embodiments, these credentials may bestored in encrypted fields of CMDB 500. Proxy servers 312 may containthe decryption key for the credentials so that proxy servers 312 can usethese credentials to log on to or otherwise access devices beingdiscovered.

The discovery process is depicted as a flow chart in FIG. 5B. At block520, the task list in the computational instance is populated, forinstance, with a range of IP addresses. At block 522, the scanning phasetakes place. Thus, the proxy servers probe the IP addresses for devicesusing these IP addresses, and attempt to determine the operating systemsthat are executing on these devices. At block 524, the classificationphase takes place. The proxy servers attempt to determine the operatingsystem version of the discovered devices. At block 526, theidentification phase takes place. The proxy servers attempt to determinethe hardware and/or software configuration of the discovered devices. Atblock 528, the exploration phase takes place. The proxy servers attemptto determine the operational state and applications executing on thediscovered devices. At block 530, further editing of the configurationitems representing the discovered devices and applications may takeplace. This editing may be automated and/or manual in nature.

The blocks represented in FIG. 5B are for purpose of example. Discoverymay be a highly configurable procedure that can have more or fewerphases, and the operations of each phase may vary. In some cases, one ormore phases may be customized, or may otherwise deviate from theexemplary descriptions above.

V. EXAMPLE IMPROVED DISPLAY OF CONFIGURATION ITEM INFORMATION

Each configuration items discovered within an enterprise is oftenassociated with a large amount of information. The information may bearranged into a number of attributes that describe different parametersabout the configuration item as the relationships between theconfiguration item and other configuration items within the enterprise.For example, some attributes may describe technical data regarding theconfiguration item, such as software version, model numbers, hardwareand manufacturer specifications, and other technical details (e.g.,networking speeds, data storage size). Other attributes may describeownership information regarding the configuration item, such asfinancial asset management information, ownership attributes, recordpurchase data, bar codes, software and hardware documentation, warranty,location, and user account or enterprise operation responsible for theconfiguration item. Further, some attributes may describe relationshipinformation about the configuration item, such as connections betweenthe particular configuration item and other configuration items (e.g.,hardware, software applications, users) in the enterprise.

Systems or users assigned to manage the enterprise may view attributevalues for configuration items when monitoring the health andperformance of operations within the enterprise. When a newconfiguration item is added to or formed within the enterprise, theconfiguration item, as well as attribute values describing theconfiguration item, may be stored in the CMDB that describes theenterprise. The different attributes may then be searched for andanalyzed when making modifications to operations within the enterpriseor monitoring the performance and health of the operations.

In some embodiments, a remote network management platform may manageconfiguration item information for a managed network. For example,remote network management platform 320 may perform a discovery process(e.g., the discovery process shown in FIG. 5B) to discover andsubsequently maintain configuration item information for managed network300. Managing the configuration item information may involve enablingusers within managed network 300 to be able to search and reviewattributes for configuration items.

With all the information available for each configuration item withinthe enterprise, it can be difficult to display configuration iteminformation in a logical manner that enables quick review by a user.Further, computing devices have limited display space for depicting theinformation. As a result, configuration item information is oftendisplayed inefficiently. In some cases, users might need to performnumerous searches prior to finding information that the user deemspertinent for a particular configuration item. To illustrate an example,FIG. 6 is included herein. Particularly, FIG. 6 depicts a graphical userinterface that represents an example layout. Graphical user interface600 might require a user to search for configuration items by searchingfor particular attributes associated with the configuration item oritems that the user wishes to review.

Graphical user interface 600 includes input forms that might require auser to input particular attributes about a configuration to search forinformation about the configuration item. For instance, the sidebar ofgraphical user interface 600 includes search 602, which may serve as ageneral search command that might fail to return information specific toa particular configuration item as desired by a user. Instead, search602 might be configured to require a user to provide a particularconfiguration item name in order to review information for thatconfiguration item.

Graphical user interface 600 also includes form input fields 604 andform input fields 606 that enable a user to search for a specificconfiguration item by inputting particular attribute values in thecorrect form field. Although form inputs 604-606 may enable a user tosearch per particular attribute values, the user might be required toinput the correct values in the appropriate form field, and aninexperienced user may fail to do so. Related items section 608 maysimilarly require the user to input correct search terms to discoverspecific configuration item information.

To assist a user quickly identify and review desired configuration iteminformation, example embodiments may obtain and intelligently identifypertinent attributes for the configuration item. For instance, a systemmay receive a request for configuration item information about aparticular configuration item. The system may then obtain theinformation and intelligently identify attributes for that configurationitem that the user might prefer to review. The attributes may correspondto attributes that users often seek to review.

After identifying these attributes, the system may present theattributes in a concise, logical arrangement in a graphical userinterface. The representation may use a tabbed interface that enables auser to quickly navigate between representations devoted to displayingattributes at different configuration items. For instance, each tab mayconvey information regarding a different configuration item. This way,the user may quickly review and switch between information aboutmultiple configuration items.

Example representations may include graphics that enable quick review ofattributes about the particular configuration item. For example, therepresentation for a particular configuration item may include adescription of the particular configuration item, a health graphicconfigured to display health of the particular configuration item usinga colorized chart component, a relationship graphic configured todisplay immediate relationships between the particular configurationitem and other configuration items in the enterprise, a timelineillustrating recent changes in attribute values, associated incidents,alerts, and change request for the particular configuration item, a formfield configured to organize and clearly represent key attributes forthe configuration item, and an activity stream to further represent howattributes values were changed in a historical list format that alsoshows the users or systems that established each attribute value change.Other graphics or items may be included in other examplerepresentations.

The layout and compilation of information in example representationspresented herein may enable efficient review of pertinent informationabout configuration items within an enterprise. Unlike the graphicaluser interface shown in FIG. 6 and other similar representations oftenused to allow a user to search for configuration item information, theexample representations described herein organize and arrange theinformation for a configuration item using graphics with intuitivevisuals. Further, each representation may factor the limited screen sizeavailable on computing devices used by users to review configurationitem information. As such, example representations may try to displaythe most relevant attributes for a selected configuration item bydefault and organize the display of attributes by attribute type. Inaddition, the different graphics included within an examplerepresentation may be rearranged as well as expanded or contracted toreveal or hide details related to attribute values. This way, a user mayselect a particular graphic to view additional details or attributes forthe particular configuration item. Further, the tabbed interface mayallow multiple representations to be swiftly navigated between by a userallowing the user to switch between and view information about multipleconfiguration items or multiple sets of grouped attributes of a singleconfiguration item.

FIG. 7A depicts an improved graphical user interface for intelligentlydisplaying information related to a configuration item, in accordancewith example embodiments. Graphical user interface 700 may be used torepresent information related to a configuration item in an intelligentarrangement that enables quick and efficient review. A system configuredto generate graphical user interface 700 may intelligently identifyinformation about a particular configuration item selected by a user(e.g., configuration item 3) and arrange the information using thelayers and graphics shown in FIG. 7A. In some instances, the system maycause a display to show graphical user interface 700 in response to auser selecting a configuration item linked on a form field or the userperforming a configuration item-related search.

As shown in FIG. 7A, graphical user interface 700 includes a generalsearch box 702, user account indication 704, home option 706, listoption 708, chat option 710, tabbed interface 712, and attributessection 714 for the selected configuration item. The design of graphicaluser interface 700 is such that pertinent information is displayed in aneasy to understand format. In addition, the graphics may be selected (orhovered over using a pointer) by a user to reveal further informationabout the configuration item, including details about attributes thatmight not be initially shown in the default format of graphical userinterface 700.

General search box 702 is shown located in the header of graphical userinterface 700 along with user account indication 704. As such, a usermay enter text into general search 702 to request information pertainingto a particular configuration item within the enterprise. In someembodiments, a system may use natural language processing to understandsearch queries provided via general search box 702. User accountindication 704 may represent the user utilizing the computing device(e.g., client device 302) displaying graphical user interface 700, suchas a user name or user identification.

Home option 706, list option 708, and chat option 710 may representselectable elements. For example, selection of home option 706 mayenable the user to view a predefined homepage. List option 708 maychange the format of information displayed in graphical user interface700. For instance, selection of list option 708 may cause a number ofconfiguration items and attributes associated with each to be displayedin a list format. In some embodiments, list option 708 may causedifferent categories to display, such as servers, workstations, andnetwork gear along with additional options. Chat option 710 may cause achat interface to appear to enable the user to chat with an agent (e.g.,human agent or virtual agent).

Tabbed interface 712 serves to facilitate navigation between differentrepresentations conveying attributes for configuration items and otherpossible information. As shown in FIG. 7A, tabbed interface 712 includesa first tab for “configuration item 1”, a second tab for “configurationitem 2”, and a third tab for “configuration item 3,” as well as anoption to create more tabs. Each tab corresponds to a representationdepicting information for a particular configuration item.

Each configuration name is shown for illustration purposes, but can varydepending on the particular configuration item and the naming structureutilized by the system managing the enterprise. Further, the third tabfor “configuration item 3” is shown as selected, resulting in attributessection 714 conveying attributes and other information related toconfiguration item 3. As such, selection of the second tab or the firsttab would could the attributes section 714 to display informationpertinent to those configuration items. With the tabbed interface 712, auser may quickly switch between viewing information relating todifferent configuration items.

Attributes section 714 includes information about the selectedconfiguration item (i.e., configuration item 3) arranged in a way toenable quick review of this information, such as attribute changes, keyattributes, health, as well as other information. As shown in FIG. 7A,attributes section 714 includes a header that indicates that therepresentation is conveying information about configuration item 3 alongwith general information specific to configuration item 3 (i.e., class,status, owner, last updated, and discovery source). Configuration itemsmay be grouped into different types of asset classes, such as types ofhardware (e.g., computing device, server device), software, andconsumable. Status may indicate if a configuration item is active oroffline (e.g., installed or uninstalled). Owner may represent the useraccount or user name associated with the configuration item. In someinstances, owner may correspond to a group within an enterprise (e.g.,IT, human resources (HR)). Last updated may indicate the last time thespecific configuration item was updated. Discovery source may indicatethe system or computing device that discovered the configuration itemwithin the enterprise. Discovery source may also indicate the date andtime of the last scan performed to discover the configuration item.

The header in attributes section 714 also includes a right section thatis configured with action buttons, such as a discover now button, anupdate button, and a “ . . . ” button selectable to show additionalaction buttons currently hidden to conserve display space. The discovernow button represents a selectable option that may trigger theperformance a new discovery process related to configuration item 3,such as the discovery process described in FIG. 5B. In some examples,the discover now button may be allocated to representations associatedwith administrators of the enterprise. The update button, when selected,may be configured to update the configuration item form with any newchanges not currently shown in attributes section 714. The update buttonmay be used in a situation where the user modified attributes of therepresented configuration item and wishes to see that thesemodifications were fully realized by the system. In other embodiments,the right section may include other action buttons, such as a deleteoption to delete the represented configuration item, a create changeaction button to pass a selected configuration item to a change creationform provided by the system, and a create incident option to pass theselected configuration item to the incident creation form also providedby the system.

Attributes section 714 may also include graphics to display informationabout the selected configuration item (e.g., configuration item 3). Asshown in FIG. 7A, attributes section 714 includes health graphic 716,relationship graphic 718, timeline graphic 720, form fields 722, andactivity stream 724. These elements serve to clearly and concisely showconfiguration item information and are described in further detail inFIGS. 7B-7E. Although the different elements are shown in a particulararrangement in attributes section 714, other example embodiments mayinclude more or fewer elements arranged in different configurations.Further, each element may be customizable by a user, including theability to resize and reposition graphics as desired. In someembodiments, the system may be configured to enable a user to set adefault arrangement of these elements when viewing graphical userinterface 700.

FIG. 7B depicts health graphic 716 from graphical user interface 700.Health graphic 716 represents a widget in graphical user interface 700that may convey a general health or multiple health statistics (e.g.,metrics) of a configuration item (i.e., configuration item 3 shown ingraphical user interface 700). Particularly, health graphic 716 includeschart component 726, text 728, view all option 729, and additionaloptions 730. In other embodiments, health graphic 716 may representother information or have another configuration. The health statisticsshown can be modified by the user or the system, including the abilityto add or remove health statistics.

Chart component 726 may represent health statistics regarding theselected configuration item. The health statistics represented by chartcomponent 726 can differ within example implementations. As shown inFIG. 7B, chart component 726 can have a circular graph appearance. Inother embodiments, other types of visual representations can be used,such as bar graphs or percentage indications, among others.

In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 7B, chart component 726 is shownrepresenting a number of incomplete attributes relative to a totalnumber of attributes for the selected configuration item (e.g., 7incomplete attributes of 30 total attributes for configuration item 3).Particularly, the entire circle of the circular graph represents 30total attributes and the smaller section of the circle represents the 7incomplete attributes. An incomplete attribute may indicate a requiredattribute of the particular configuration item that is not filled out.As such, an incomplete attribute may indicate that an attribute orattribute value of the configuration item needs an update or additionalinformation (e.g., information provided by the user or system). Forinstance, incomplete attributes may not be used to identify and analyzethe configuration item.

Although chart component 726 is shown only in black and white, color maybe used in other embodiments in chart component 726. In addition, tofurther assist a user understand the context of health graphic 716, text728 is included to describe what chart component 726 visually shows. Asshown in FIG. 7B, text 728 may specify that there are 7 incompleteattributes out of 30 total attributes for configuration item 3.

Health graphic 716 further includes additional options 730 that areselectable by a user to change information represented within healthgraphic 716. View all option 729 may be used to display more or all ofthe health metrics gathered for the particular configuration items. Assuch, view all option 729 and additional options 730 are included toallow a user to view further health information about configuration item3 while still maintain a clean, organized appearance within attributesection 714. For example, selecting addition option 730 may cause healthgraphic 716 to transition from showing incomplete attributes to showinga number of stale relationships relative to the total number ofrelationships for configuration item 3. A stale relationship mayrepresent a relationship that is no longer valid. For instance, theconnection between configuration item 3 to another configuration itemmay no longer exist, but an administrator may be required to remove therelationship altogether. Similarly, a stale relationship may indicatethat the relationship fails to satisfy a threshold performance value. Astale relationship may indicate that one of the configuration itemswithin the relationship is stale.

In addition, selecting additional options 730 a second time may furthercause health graphic 716 to show another health analysis regardingconfiguration item 3, such as the number of non-compliant relationshipsto the total number of relationships for the selected configurationitem. A non-compliant relationship may fail to satisfy predefined rulesset forth by an administrator or the system for relationships betweenconfiguration items. As such, when a user utilizes additional options730 to change the information represented within health graphic 716, thechart component 726 and text 728 may both change accordingly.

In some examples, other health analytics can be shown using chartcomponent 726. A user may specify which health analytics to show.Further, the user or the system may enable health analytics to bemodified, added, or decreased.

In some embodiments, chart component 726 may use color to representhealth of the selected configuration item. For example, if the number ofstale relationships, incomplete attributes, or non-compliantrelationships is less than a first predefined threshold of a total(e.g., less than 15% of the total relationships or attributes of theselected configuration item), chart component 726 may use a first color(e.g., green) to indicate a good health for the selected configurationitem for that health category. Similarly, if the number of stalerelationships, incomplete attributes, or non-compliant relationships isless greater than the first predefined threshold of a total but lessthan a second predefined threshold of the total (e.g., between 16% to30%), chart component 726 may use a second color (e.g., yellow) toindicate the health for the selected configuration item for that healthcategory. Further, if the number of stale relationships, incompleteattributes, or non-compliant relationships is greater than the secondpredefined threshold of the total (e.g., 31% or greater), chartcomponent 726 may use a third color (e.g., red) to indicate poor healthfor the selected configuration item for that health category. Othercolor schemes can be used in embodiments as well.

FIG. 7C depicts relationship graphic 718 from graphical user interface700. Relationship graphic 718 may represent first level relationships,which are immediate relationships to the selected configuration item(i.e., configuration item 3). An immediate relationship involves directcommunication or a direct connection between two configuration itemswithout another configuration item in between. Conversely, second levelrelationships are indirect connections between the selectedconfiguration item and other configuration items in the enterprise. Assuch, a system may intelligently display immediate relationships to aselected configuration item since those relationships are likely to havethe most impact on the selected configuration.

In some embodiments, the first level relationships may be shown in thefollowing format (e.g., format 734) in relationship graphic 718 shownbelow:

[Relationship type] - [Class type - (link)] (#) [CI name (link)] [CIname (link)] ... [Relationship type] - [Class type -(link)]

Format 734 includes the symbol (#) to indicate a count of theconfiguration items listed within the [Relationship type]-[Class type].

In some examples, a selected configuration item may include numerousfirst level relationships. When there are too many first levelrelationships to display within relationship graphic 718 at the sametime, relationship graphic 718 may use pagination to enable a user toview different pages representing the relationships. As a result,relationship graphic 718 may remain concise while also enabling a userto view all first level relationships. Symbols 736 may be used toindicate when additional first level relationships are available forviewing. Relationship graphic 718 may represent the information in adifferent format within other embodiments. In some examples,relationship graphic 718 may also show second level and other levelrelationships to the selected configuration item.

As shown in FIG. 7C, relationship graphic 718 may further include viewmap option 732. Selection of view map option 732 by a user may causegraphical user interface 700 to display a visual dependency map thatillustrates the first level relationships (and possibly second levelrelationships, etc.) for the selected configuration item. In someexamples, the map may further show relationships of other levels to theselected configuration item.

In some embodiments, selection of view map option 732 may serve as alink to the dependency map of the selected configuration item storedwithin in another platform prompting a new browser tab to open to showthe dependency map. As such, the map may enable a user to further viewimmediate and possible secondary relationships to the selectedconfiguration item in a clear, visual format, such as a dependency treeor graph. In additional examples, view map option 732 may be describedusing other terms, such as “View Dependencies.”

FIG. 7D depicts timeline graphic 720 shown in graphical user interface700. Timeline graphic 720 may display one or more of attribute valuechanges, incidents, change requests, and alerts that have occurred tothe selected configuration item over a predefined period of time (e.g.,last 7 days). The predefined period of time may be indicated in header738 of timeline graphic 720 to enable a user to understand the durationthat is represented. In some embodiments, the system may permit a userto adjust the predefined period of time. The system may also beconfigured to actively select the predefined period of time based on thetiming of attribute changes associated with the selected configurationitem. For instance, if a substantial number of attribute value changesoccurred during a two week span, the system may cause timeline graphic720 to display attribute value changes over that two week period. Inanother example, timeline graphic 720 may enable an administrator or auser to select viewing timelines that correspond to different recentperiods of time (e.g., a 7 day option, a 14 day option, and a 30 dayoption).

Timeline 740 is shown included in timeline graphic 720 to visuallyrepresent when attribute changes/incidents occurred relative to otherchanges/incidents. In some embodiments, timeline 740 may include numbersor a time scale to visually differentiate between the days represented.

As shown in FIG. 7D, timeline 740 also includes indicators 742 thatrepresent when incidents or changes occurred. Each indicator 742represents an attribute value change, an incident, a change request, analert or other information associated with configuration item 3 thatoccurred during the predefined period. Particularly, each indicator 742may represent a time of the associated even by its position in timeline740. In some examples, timeline 740 may include indicators 742representing recent changes in attribute values, associated incidents,alerts, and change requests. Timeline 740 may be configured to displayother information.

As further shown in FIG. 7D, indicators 742 can have different forms torepresent different information. Particularly, as represented in table 1below, indicators 742 may have a different configuration based on thenumber of changes represented. When a user selects or hovers over aparticular indicator, underlying information associated with theattribute change or incident represented by that particular indicatormay be shown. Table 1 also represents examples of possible additionalinformation that may be shown when an indicator is selected.

TABLE 1 Category Icon Tooltip Display Single change ◯ Example: GeorgeWarren changed location: ‘San Diego’ to ‘London’ 2018-02-14 10:52:03‘View in Activity Feed’ Multiple changes ⊙ Example 1: 13 total attributevalue changes 2018-02-11 05:19:01 (or) Example 2: 3 of 15 changes shown:System changed Monitor: ‘false’ to ‘true’ System changed is clustered:‘false’ to ‘true’ System changed Operational: ‘Not Operational’ to‘Operational’

Timeline graphic 744 may also include description 744 that utilizes textto indicate the number of incidents and number of attributes that haveoccurred during the predefined period to the selected configurationitem. The combination of description 744 and timeline 740 may enable auser to quickly determine recent changes and incidents for the selectedconfiguration item. In other examples, timeline graphic 744 may displayinformation in another configuration.

FIG. 7E depicts form fields 722 and activity stream 724 shown ingraphical user interface 700. Form fields 722 is shown separated intotwo sections: key attributes 748 and more attributes 750. Each sectionmay be expanded or collapsed to show more or less information. Keyattributes 748 may be expanded by default and includes particularattributes and their associated field values. Particularly, keyattributes indicates name, location, status, operating system,description, list discovered, support group number, serial number, assettag. Other example attributes, such as virtual, disk space, CPU count,CPU core count, etc., may be included as well. The attributes shown inkey attributes 748 may vary based on a type or class of theconfiguration item. More attributes 750 may be collapsed by default.Expanding on the area may display all other attributes and theirassociated values in two columns in a default or user-configuredordered.

Activity stream 724 may display a historical timeline of changes inattribute values of the selected configuration item. Within activitystream 724, each stream section may display information about a user orthe system that changed the attribute value and an indication of thechange. As shown in FIG. 7E, section 752 includes an avatar picture(represented by “M”) and a user's name (“Matt Johnson”), timestamp 754(“10 mins ago”), and an indication of an attribute change (“Active wasinactive and Cost: 10,000 was 10,025”). The indication of the change inattribute is shown using the following format: [Attribute]: [New Value]was [Old Value]. In other examples, each stream section may displayinformation in other formats, which may include more or less informationthan the amount shown in FIG. 7E.

It is possible that the content within each section or activity stream724 may exceed a height permitted by the size of graphical userinterface 700. In such a situation, content within one or more streamsections may be partially concealed and activity stream (or individualstream sections) may include an option to expand in order to show thefull length of attribute value changes for that time period. Forexample, activity stream 724 may include a “Show More” link 756 that mayexpand the amount of information displayed in activity stream 724.

In some embodiments, activity stream 724 may further include one or morefilter options. For instance, activity stream 724 may include a filtericon that causes any attribute that has been changed within the fulltimeline to be dynamically shown.

Related list 746 is also depicted in FIG. 7E. Related list 746 maydisplay as tabs for one or more configuration item forms. As shown inFIG. 7E, related list 746 includes attributes (shown selected),incidents, changes, software installed, and network adapters. Relatedlist 746 may be customizable by the user or the system in some examples.In other embodiments, related list 746 may show tabs for otherconfiguration item forms, such as relationships, related incidents,related tasks, and related events, among others. These tabs can be basedon a configuration item type or class. It is possible that the widthrequired to display the different configuration item forms exceeds thedefault set width available. As such, the remaining list tabs may becombined into a “More” dropdown tab that can be selected to show theremaining configuration item tabs. In addition, each item form furtherincludes a number representing the number of items associated with thatconfiguration item form. Each tab may display different information forabout the selected configuration item. Table 2 below illustrates someexample information that tabs may display.

TABLE 2 List Name/Details Columns Relationships Parent Relationship TypeChild Updated Incidents Incident Number (Incident number - ReferenceShort Description Number > Open respective Caller incidents) PriorityState Related Tasks Task Number (Task number - Reference PriorityNumber > Open respective State tasks) Short Description Assignment GroupAssigned to Related Events Alert Number (Event number - ReferenceSeverity Number > Open respective Source events) Description NodeChanges Change Number (Change number - Reference Short DescriptionNumber > Open respective Type change events) State Planned start datePlanned end date Assigned to [Related Tables] [Default Table Columns] Ifa related table has been added to this CI, then these will display as arelated list tab

VI. EXAMPLE OPERATIONS

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment. The processillustrated by FIG. 8 may be carried out by a computing device, such ascomputing device 100, and/or a cluster of computing devices, such asserver cluster 200. However, the process can be carried out by othertypes of devices or device subsystems. For example, the process could becarried out by a portable computer, such as a laptop or a tablet device.

The embodiments of FIG. 8 may be simplified by the removal of any one ormore of the features shown therein. Further, these embodiments may becombined with features, aspects, and/or implementations of any of theprevious figures or otherwise described herein.

Block 800 involves receiving, from a client device in a managed networkhaving a plurality of configuration items, a request to view informationrepresentative of a particular configuration item. A remote networkmanagement platform may manage the managed network using one or moreserver devices. The one or more server devices may be configured toobtain information regarding the plurality of configuration items by wayof a proxy server application disposed within the managed network.

Block 802 involves obtaining information regarding the particularconfiguration item based on the request.

Block 804 involves transmitting, to the client device, a representationof a graphical user interface that includes: (i) a health graphicconfigured to represent health of the particular configuration item,(ii) a relationship graphic configured to represent first levelrelationships between the particular configuration item and one or moreconfiguration items of the plurality of configuration items in themanaged network, (iii) a timeline graphic configured to representattribute value changes for the particular configuration item during apredefined duration, (iv) an activity stream configured to represent ahistorical listing of attribute value changes for the particularconfiguration item, and (v) a tabbed interface. The tabbed interface mayfacilitate navigation between attributes corresponding to the particularconfiguration item and attributes corresponding to one or more otherconfiguration items of the plurality of configuration items in themanaged network.

In some embodiments, the representation of the graphical user interfacemay further include a header that indicates a title, a status, an owner,a last updated indication, and a discovery source corresponding to theparticular configuration item. The header may indicate other informationin other examples.

In some embodiments, the health graphic may include a chart componentconfigured to represent a number of stale relationships relative to atotal number of relationships for the particular configuration item. Forinstance, a stale relationship may indicate that at least oneconfiguration item in a relationship between two configuration items isoffline or undiscoverable. The total number of relationships for theparticular configuration item may represent a total number of directconnections between the particular configuration item and additionalconfiguration items.

Some embodiments may involve receiving, from the client device, aselection of a display more option corresponding to the chart component.As such, based on receiving the selection of the display more option,the embodiments may involve causing the chart component to represent anumber of incomplete attributes relative to a total number of attributesfor the particular configuration item. For instance, an incompleteattribute may be a required attribute (or attribute value) that is notyet filled out for the particular configuration item and the totalnumber of attributes for the particular configuration item may indicatea quantity of attribute values identified for the particularconfiguration item. The incomplete attributes may indicate that one ormore attribute values are currently unavailable for viewing for theparticular configuration item.

Some embodiments may further involve receiving, from the client device,a second selection of the display more option corresponding to the chartcomponent. Based on receiving the second selection of the display moreoption, the embodiments may involve causing the chart component torepresent a number of non-compliant relationships relative to the totalnumber of relationships for the particular configuration item. Anon-compliant relationship may indicate a relationship that fails tosatisfy predefined rules, and the total number of relationships for theparticular configuration item may represent a total number of directconnections between the particular configuration item and otherconfiguration items. In some examples, other analytics may be shown byone or more chart components. The analytics may be modified andadditional analytics could be added.

Some embodiments may involve receiving, from the client device, aselection of a view map option corresponding to the relationshipgraphic. Based on receiving the selection, the embodiments may involvecausing a map of the first level relationships between the particularconfiguration item and the one or more configuration items of theplurality of configuration items in the managed network to appear in apop up window.

Some embodiments may involve the timeline graphic including a pluralityof indicators positioned on a timeline to indicate timing forrepresented attribute value changes, incidents, change requests, andalerts for the particular configuration item during the predefinedduration using one or more indicators. In some instances, the pluralityof indicators may include a first type of indicator and a second type ofindicator. For instance, The first type of indicator may represent asingle attribute change for the particular configuration item and thesecond type of indicator may represent multiple attribute changescorresponding for the particular configuration item. The indicatorscould include other types of indicators.

Some embodiments may further involve receiving, from the client device,a second request to view information representative of a secondconfiguration item and obtaining information regarding the secondconfiguration item based on the second request. The embodiments mayfurther involve causing the representation of the graphical userinterface to display a second representation using the tabbed interfacethat includes: (i) a second health graphic configured to representhealth of the second configuration item, (ii) a second relationshipgraphic configured to represent first level relationships between thesecond configuration item and one or more configuration items of theplurality of configuration items in the managed network, (iii) a secondtimeline graphic configured to represent attribute value changes as wellas incident, change requests, and alerts for the second configurationitem during a predefined duration, and (iv) a second activity streamconfigured to represent a historical listing of attribute value changesfor the second configuration item. The tabbed interface may enableswitching between the representation and the second representation.

Some embodiments may involve receiving, from the client device, aselection of a tab corresponding to the particular configuration item.Based on receiving the selection of the tab corresponding to theparticular configuration item, the embodiments may involve causing therepresentation of the graphical user interface to display theinformation regarding the particular configuration item.

Some embodiments may involve using an article of manufacture. Thearticle of manufacture may include a non-transitory computer-readablemedium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon executionby a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations.The operations may include receiving, from a client device in a managednetwork having a plurality of configuration items, a request to viewinformation representative of a particular configuration item. A remotenetwork management platform may manage the managed network using one ormore server devices, and the one or more server devices may beconfigured to obtain information regarding the plurality ofconfiguration items by way of a proxy server application disposed withinthe managed network. The operations may further include obtaininginformation regarding the particular configuration item based on therequest, and transmitting, to the client device, a representation of agraphical user interface. The graphical user interface may include: (i)a health graphic configured to represent health of the particularconfiguration item, (ii) a relationship graphic configured to representfirst level relationships between the particular configuration item andone or more configuration items of the plurality of configuration itemsin the managed network, (iii) a timeline graphic configured to representattribute value changes for the particular configuration item during apredefined duration, (iv) an activity stream configured to represent ahistorical listing of attribute value changes for the particularconfiguration item, and (v) a tabbed interface. The tabbed interface mayfacilitate navigation between attributes corresponding to the particularconfiguration item and attributes corresponding to one or more otherconfiguration items of the plurality of configuration items in themanaged network.

VII. CONCLUSION

The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particularembodiments described in this application, which are intended asillustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations canbe made without departing from its scope, as will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuseswithin the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those describedherein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoingdescriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fallwithin the scope of the appended claims.

The above detailed description describes various features and operationsof the disclosed systems, devices, and methods with reference to theaccompanying figures. The example embodiments described herein and inthe figures are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments can beutilized, and other changes can be made, without departing from thescope of the subject matter presented herein. It will be readilyunderstood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generallydescribed herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged,substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a wide variety ofdifferent configurations.

With respect to any or all of the message flow diagrams, scenarios, andflow charts in the figures and as discussed herein, each step, block,and/or communication can represent a processing of information and/or atransmission of information in accordance with example embodiments.Alternative embodiments are included within the scope of these exampleembodiments. In these alternative embodiments, for example, operationsdescribed as steps, blocks, transmissions, communications, requests,responses, and/or messages can be executed out of order from that shownor discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order,depending on the functionality involved. Further, more or fewer blocksand/or operations can be used with any of the message flow diagrams,scenarios, and flow charts discussed herein, and these message flowdiagrams, scenarios, and flow charts can be combined with one another,in part or in whole.

A step or block that represents a processing of information cancorrespond to circuitry that can be configured to perform the specificlogical functions of a herein-described method or technique.Alternatively or additionally, a step or block that represents aprocessing of information can correspond to a module, a segment, or aportion of program code (including related data). The program code caninclude one or more instructions executable by a processor forimplementing specific logical operations or actions in the method ortechnique. The program code and/or related data can be stored on anytype of computer readable medium such as a storage device including RAM,a disk drive, a solid state drive, or another storage medium.

The computer readable medium can also include non-transitory computerreadable media such as computer readable media that store data for shortperiods of time like register memory and processor cache. The computerreadable media can further include non-transitory computer readablemedia that store program code and/or data for longer periods of time.Thus, the computer readable media may include secondary or persistentlong term storage, like ROM, optical or magnetic disks, solid statedrives, compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. Thecomputer readable media can also be any other volatile or non-volatilestorage systems. A computer readable medium can be considered a computerreadable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device.

Moreover, a step or block that represents one or more informationtransmissions can correspond to information transmissions betweensoftware and/or hardware modules in the same physical device. However,other information transmissions can be between software modules and/orhardware modules in different physical devices.

The particular arrangements shown in the figures should not be viewed aslimiting. It should be understood that other embodiments can includemore or less of each element shown in a given figure. Further, some ofthe illustrated elements can be combined or omitted. Yet further, anexample embodiment can include elements that are not illustrated in thefigures.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purpose ofillustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scopebeing indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a proxy server applicationdisposed within a managed network, wherein the managed network includesa plurality of configuration items; one or more server devices disposedwithin a remote network management platform, wherein the remote networkmanagement platform manages the managed network, wherein the one or moreserver devices are configured to obtain information regarding theplurality of configuration items by way of the proxy server application,and wherein the one or more server devices are configured to: receive,from a client device, a request to view information representative of aparticular configuration item; based on the request, obtain informationregarding the particular configuration item; and transmit, to the clientdevice, a representation of a graphical user interface that includes:(i) a health graphic configured to represent health of the particularconfiguration item, (ii) a relationship graphic configured to representfirst level relationships between the particular configuration item andone or more configuration items of the plurality of configuration itemsin the managed network, (iii) a timeline graphic configured to representattribute value changes for the particular configuration item during apredefined duration, (iv) an activity stream configured to represent ahistorical listing of attribute value changes for the particularconfiguration item, and (v) a tabbed interface, wherein the tabbedinterface facilitates navigation between attributes corresponding to theparticular configuration item and attributes corresponding to one ormore other configuration items of the plurality of configuration itemsin the managed network.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:receive, from the client device, a second request to view informationrepresentative of a second configuration item; based on the secondrequest, obtain information regarding the second configuration item; andcause the representation of the graphical user interface to display asecond representation using the tabbed interface that includes: (i) asecond health graphic configured to represent health of the secondconfiguration item, (ii) a second relationship graphic configured torepresent first level relationships between the second configurationitem and one or more configuration items of the plurality ofconfiguration items in the managed network, (iii) a second timelinegraphic configured to represent attribute value changes for the secondconfiguration item during a predefined duration, and (iv) a secondactivity stream configured to represent a historical listing ofattribute value changes for the second configuration item, wherein thetabbed interface enables switching between the representation and thesecond representation.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein therepresentation of the graphical user interface further includes a headerthat indicates a title, a status, an owner, a last updated indication,and a discovery source all corresponding to the particular configurationitem, and wherein the timeline graphic is further configured torepresent incidents, change requests, and alerts for the particularconfiguration item during the predefined duration using one or moreindicators.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the health graphicincludes a chart component configured to represent a number of stalerelationships relative to a total number of relationships for theparticular configuration item, wherein a stale relationship indicates atleast one configuration item in a relationship between two configurationitems is offline or undiscoverable, and wherein the total number ofrelationships for the particular configuration item represents a totalnumber of direct connections between the particular configuration itemand additional configuration items.
 5. The system of claim 4, whereinthe chart component is further configured to represent a number ofincomplete attributes relative to a total number of attributes for theparticular configuration item, wherein an incomplete attribute indicatesa required attribute of the particular configuration item that is notfilled out, and wherein the total number of attributes for theparticular configuration item indicates a quantity of attribute valuesidentified for the particular configuration item.
 6. The system of claim5, wherein the chart component is further configured to represent anumber of non-compliant relationships relative to the total number ofrelationships for the particular configuration item, wherein anon-compliant relationship indicates a relationship that fails tosatisfy predefined rules, and wherein the total number of relationshipsfor the particular configuration item represents a total number ofdirect connections between the particular configuration item and otherconfiguration items.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the relationshipgraphic further includes a view map option, wherein selection of theview map option causes a map of the first level relationships betweenthe particular configuration item and the one or more configurationitems of the plurality of configuration items in the managed network tobe shown.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the timeline graphicincludes a plurality of indicators positioned on a timeline to indicatetiming for represented changes, wherein the plurality of indicatorsincludes a first type of indicator and a second type of indicator,wherein the first type of indicator represents a single attribute changefor the particular configuration item, and wherein the second type ofindicator represents multiple attribute changes corresponding for theparticular configuration item.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein therepresentation of the graphical user interface further includes: a formfield comprising a first section and a second section, wherein the firstsection of the form field is configured to represent key attributes forthe particular configuration item, wherein the second section of theform field is configured to represent more attributes for the particularconfiguration item, and wherein the form field uses a tabbed interface.10. The system of claim 9, wherein the tabbed interface is configured toswitch between displaying attributes, incidents, changes, softwareinstalled, and network adapters all corresponding to the particularconfiguration item.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the activitystream includes a plurality of entries, wherein each entry includes: (i)a representation of a user submitting the entry, (ii) an indication of achange in an attribute value for the particular configuration item, and(iii) and a timestamp representing a time of occurrence for the changein the attribute value.
 12. A computer-implemented method comprising:receiving, from a client device in a managed network having a pluralityof configuration items, a request to view information representative ofa particular configuration item, wherein a remote network managementplatform manages the managed network using one or more server devices,and wherein the one or more server devices are configured to obtaininformation regarding the plurality of configuration items by way of aproxy server application disposed within the managed network; based onthe request, obtaining information regarding the particularconfiguration item; and transmitting, to the client device, arepresentation of a graphical user interface that includes: (i) a healthgraphic configured to represent health of the particular configurationitem, (ii) a relationship graphic configured to represent first levelrelationships between the particular configuration item and one or moreconfiguration items of the plurality of configuration items in themanaged network, (iii) a timeline graphic configured to representattribute value changes for the particular configuration item during apredefined duration, (iv) an activity stream configured to represent ahistorical listing of attribute value changes for the particularconfiguration item, and (v) a tabbed interface, wherein the tabbedinterface facilitates navigation between attributes corresponding to theparticular configuration item and attributes corresponding to one ormore other configuration items of the plurality of configuration itemsin the managed network.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12,further comprising: receiving, from the client device, a second requestto view information representative of a second configuration item; basedon the second request, obtaining information regarding the secondconfiguration item; and causing the representation of the graphical userinterface to display a second representation using the tabbed interfacethat includes: (i) a second health graphic configured to representhealth of the second configuration item, (ii) a second relationshipgraphic configured to represent first level relationships between thesecond configuration item and one or more configuration items of theplurality of configuration items in the managed network, (iii) a secondtimeline graphic configured to represent attribute value changes,incidents, change request, and alerts for the second configuration itemduring a predefined duration, and (iv) a second activity streamconfigured to represent a historical listing of attribute value changesfor the second configuration item, wherein the tabbed interface enablesswitching between the representation and the second representation. 14.The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:receiving, from the client device, a selection of a tab corresponding tothe particular configuration item; and based on receiving the selectionof the tab corresponding to the particular configuration item, causingthe representation of the graphical user interface to display theinformation regarding the particular configuration item.
 15. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the representation ofthe graphical user interface further includes a header that indicates atitle, a status, an owner, a last updated indication, and a discoverysource all corresponding to the particular configuration item.
 16. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the health graphicincludes a chart component configured to represent a number of stalerelationships relative to a total number of relationships for theparticular configuration item, wherein a stale relationship indicates atleast one configuration item in a relationship between two configurationitems is offline or undiscoverable, and wherein the total number ofrelationships for the particular configuration item represents a totalnumber of direct connections between the particular configuration itemand additional configuration items.
 17. The computer-implemented methodof claim 16, further comprising: receiving, from the client device, aselection of a display more option corresponding to the chart component;and based on receiving the selection of the display more option, causingthe chart component to represent a number of incomplete attributesrelative to a total number of attributes for the particularconfiguration item, wherein an incomplete attribute indicates a requiredattribute of the particular configuration item that is not filled out,and wherein the total number of attributes for the particularconfiguration item indicates a quantity of attribute values identifiedfor the particular configuration item.
 18. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 17, further comprising: receiving, from the clientdevice, a second selection of the display more option corresponding tothe chart component; and based on receiving the second selection of thedisplay more option, causing the chart component to represent a numberof non-compliant relationships relative to the total number ofrelationships for the particular configuration item, wherein anon-compliant relationship indicates a relationship that fails tosatisfy predefined rules, and wherein the total number of relationshipsfor the particular configuration item represents a total number ofdirect connections between the particular configuration item and otherconfiguration items.
 19. The computer-implemented method of claim 12,further comprising: receiving, from the client device, a selection of aview map option corresponding to the relationship graphic; and based onreceiving the selection, causing a map of the first level relationshipsbetween the particular configuration item and the one or moreconfiguration items of the plurality of configuration items in themanaged network to appear in a pop up window.
 20. An article ofmanufacture including a non-transitory computer-readable medium, havingstored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by a computingsystem, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:receiving, from a client device in a managed network having a pluralityof configuration items, a request to view information representative ofa particular configuration item, wherein a remote network managementplatform manages the managed network using one or more server devices,and wherein the one or more server devices are configured to obtaininformation regarding the plurality of configuration items by way of aproxy server application disposed within the managed network; based onthe request, obtaining information regarding the particularconfiguration item; and transmitting, to the client device, arepresentation of a graphical user interface that includes: (i) a healthgraphic configured to represent health of the particular configurationitem, (ii) a relationship graphic configured to represent first levelrelationships between the particular configuration item and one or moreconfiguration items of the plurality of configuration items in themanaged network, (iii) a timeline graphic configured to representattribute value changes for the particular configuration item during apredefined duration, (iv) an activity stream configured to represent ahistorical listing of attribute value changes for the particularconfiguration item, and (v) a tabbed interface, wherein the tabbedinterface facilitates navigation between attributes corresponding to theparticular configuration item and attributes corresponding to one ormore other configuration items of the plurality of configuration itemsin the managed network.